


Packs And Dens And Mother Hens

by WritingWren



Series: Mother Hens of Marmora 'verse [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Everybody Lives, Fluff, Fluff fluff and more fluff, Galra have packs, Galra!Keith, Happy Ending, Keith finds a family, Tumblr Fic, and a good dose of angst, dads of marmora, though it's not that bad actually, toothrotting fluff, well at least half Galra Keith, you might cry you have been warned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-07
Updated: 2017-09-07
Packaged: 2018-12-25 00:21:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12024171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingWren/pseuds/WritingWren
Summary: Inspired bythis post on tumblr. Basically after they've secured an alliance with the BoM, Keith starts talking to them sometimes, and one time he mentions his age. Turns out Galra live a lot longer than humans and Keith, by their standards and since he's part Galra, is a child. Drama, Angst and (mostly) fluff ensue as they all come to terms with it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just saying, I didn't check this for typos (I didn't even have the time to write it, to be honest, I just couldn't stop).  
> Enjoy~

Keith has no idea how the fuck this happened. Well, maybe he does… somewhat. He found out he’s part Galra. One after the other the paladins, Allura and Coran, his friends, accepted that he’s still Keith, though, even if his parents weren’t human. Even if his parents -well, one of them- was part of the race that now threatens the entire universe and is going to enslave every single one of them if they don’t do something against it.

They actually did manage to secure an alliance with the Blade of Marmora, who now used the castle as headquarters as well, and Keith had been acting as some kind of mediator, since he’s part human and part Galra. Or, as Lance put it, “You’re, like, in the middle, man. You belong to us _and_ them.”

Keith didn’t mind it much. He liked spending time with those good Galra; it felt good to know that maybe he wasn’t doomed to become a monster just because he was related to the Galra. He didn’t want to be a monster. And, though he never would’ve said that out loud, he didn’t want to lose his friends. As they learned more and more about each other, Keith grew more comfortable around them, too.

There was Kolivan, the leader, strict and disciplined, but with a hidden sense of humor that could shine through sometimes, if rarely. Antok was a silent giant. He didn’t say much, but he listented most of the time. Ulaz was a good doctor, something even Allura begrudgingly admitted, and Thace was the most companiable. Those four were the ones who were almost constantly around, working hand in hand with them on missions.   

And then they’d started talking, and Keith had actually opened up somewhat, told them what it had been like, how he’d never even known his parents and how he’d started training at the Garrison at a pretty young age -something he’s proud of; he was good enough to get in early because he was skilled.

“But then they threw me out when I was almost 17; that’s when I started searching for- What?” They’d all gone deadly serious, staring at him, not relaxed at all anymore.

“Sorry,” Thace’d said. “I don’t think I heard right. How old did you say you were?”

“16. I was almost 17 though,” Keith had replied confused.

Ulaz had hissed, much like a cat; Keith had found that the Galra had a lot of traits in common with earth cats or some bigger felines.

“That can’t be right.” Thace again. “Just how old are you?”

“I’m 18 now…”

At that Antok had literally growled, and everything had happened very fast; instinct taking over.

And here Keith is, in a… nest? It’s an actual nest of blankets and pillows in the room the four Galra share while on the ship. The other three are huddled close to him, and it’s not like he’d have anything against them per se, but this is just too close for him. They’re not reacting to anything he says for a while, no matter how he curses, yells or pleads. He tries everything he can think of, but they’re stronger than him, even if it was just one of them, and they’re all very skilled fighters.

So after an hour he’s tired, mentally and physically, and he just lets them do what they want, which just seems to be excessive cuddling and nuzzling and purring. After that it doesn’t take much longer until Thace starts talking again.

“Sorry.” He has the decency to sound embarrassed about the whole thing. “But just how can they send children into the war?!” he adds, definitely angry now. “And to the front line no less!”

“Hey!” Keith protests. “I’m not a _child_! I’m 18, at least on earth we’re grown up at that age!”

“You are,” Antok growls. “Boy, we’re all around 200, and we’re still _young_.”

“And you were always alone,” Ulaz adds, sadly. “You didn’t have anybody, alone on a whole different planet… Nobdy to know you, nobody to teach you…”  

Keith can just stare at them. “You mean, you, uh. You’re all _two hundred_ years old?!”

“Yes,” Thace replies, amused. “We’re still young, but don’t worry, kit, we’ll take care of you now.”

Keith frowns. “I’m old enough to take care of myself,” he huffs. “So thanks, but no, thanks. Hell, I’m the second oldest on team Voltron after Shiro!”

There’s a moment of silence, then Ulaz shrugs. “I guess that is alright, since they’re human… They seem to mature and die earlier.”

“I’m human, too! I mean, I might be part Galra, but just look at me!” Keith gestures towards his -obviously human- body.

Antok rumbles quietly -annoyed?- and simply nuzzles a point behind Keith’s ear that makes him go lax instantly. “You’re Galra enough.”

The feeling of protection is so strong for a moment that it takes longer than just a few seconds to break free from it. Afterwards he can only stare at the biggest Galra with wide eyes. “What- How did you do that?”

Antok gives him a very rare half-smile. “Nuzzling you?”

Keith just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “The itch. I’ve had that itch for almost all my life. Right there. Scratching didn’t help so I tried to ignore it, but it was always there. And now it’s… gone.”

Thace makes a sad little noise that sounds a bit like a drowning cat.

“Your body might be human -look human- but your instincts are all Galra,” Ulaz explains quietly. At Keith’s confused expression he continues. “What Antok just did is something Galra parents do to calm down their kits. Most of us grow out of it with time, the feeling gets less overwhelming until it just feels nice. Your reaction was… very strong, if not to say vigorous. And if you say there was an itch even… You must have been very… lonely.”

“Oh,” is all Keith can say at that. He can’t look at them right now, which proves more difficult than at any other time since he’s surrounded by them. He didn’t really want them to know that much; it feels like they can look at that raw, vulnerable part of him he doesn’t want to show anybody. Sure, he told them about his past, but… And it’s not like he didn’t _like_ being on his own. _Because you were missing other Galra, not humans,_ his mind whispers.

He’s pulled back into the here and now when Thace nuzzles him, careful not to touch _that spot_ again, instead just rubbing his nose along Keith’s cheek. “Don’t think too hard on it, youngling, we don’t judge you. I think if I’d gone through that I would’ve gone mad…”

Keith shrugs. “Well, I didn’t.” He thinks.

“Which is a sign of strength,” Thace says, ruffling his hair with a smile.

Ruffling. His hair. As if he was a child. Suddenly they’re all too close again; Keith has to get out of here or he might go mad right now from the storm of thoughts and emotions raging inside of him. This time, now that they’ve all calmed down a little and their instincts are not telling them to _protect the kit_ any longer, they let him go when he tries to free himself.

“I. Uh. I’ll just.” Keith flees. As soon as he’s out of the cocoon of Galra, blankets and pillows, he feels cold to his core, but he can’t stay, either. He feels like he might suffocate. It’s all too much. They don’t tell him to stay, almost as if they can sense his distress.

Keith’s room is smaller than the one the Galra are sharing. He thinks they’re a bit like a pack or something, rather staying close to each other, a unit. Right now his room feels much bigger, though. Big, empty and cold. Usually he likes staying here on his own, but even wrapped in his blanket he’s still cold. He falls asleep like that and doesn’t even wake for dinner, but either nobody comes to get him or they do and he just doesn’t wake.

When he does wake it’s with a bit of a start, in the middle of the night and not in his room. The first thing he notices are his legs giving out, a small, whining sound coming out of his mouth he’ll never admit he has even made and strong arms holding him. Antok sits down with Keith in his lap, slowly as not to startle him any more, and waits until Keith is more coherent.

The young paladin doesn’t want to admit this, either, but being held against the giant’s chest, an unexpected gentle hand carding through his hair, feels actually nice. It feels safe, too. But he’ll have to fight the Galra’s grip soon, if he doesn’t want them to think of him as some kind of kit. He’ll ask first, though. He can stay here a little longer…

“Antok? What are you doing?”

The Galra hums quietly. “You were calling.”

Keith blinks, confused, until it clicks. “Oh. Was I making weird noises in my sleep again?” He lifts his head just enough to confirm he is indeed not in his room, careful not to dislodge the hand in his hair. “And it looks like I’ve been sleepwalking, too…”

Antok sighs. “This has been happening before?”

A half shrug. “Yeah, when I was with foster families before I was accepted into the Garrison, they’d sometimes wake me when I was sleepwalking and tell me I was making really weird noises in my sleep. No big deal.” Except it was, because he’s always felt terrible when that happened, and those nights he hasn’t even thought of going back to sleep. This time is different, though. A sleepy dizziness and warmth make sure he stays relaxed unlike any other time this might happen.

Antok hums again. “I see.” His voice is quiet, as if to not disturb Keith’s calmness. “You wouldn’t know… What you did was something kits tend to do when they’re in distress; searching for their parents in their sleep and calling for them. I answered your call since obviously your parents can’t. Us Galra are actually quite… social creatures, in private. None of us would ever ignore an abandoned kit’s call or needs…” It sounds much more like an apology than an explanation, but Keith couldn’t care less right now. He’s warm, and still more asleep than awake, and he doesn’t have the energy for more than a little half-sigh-half-hum.

There’s a moment of silence. Keith can’t say how much time passes until Antok speaks again. He sounds hesitant. “Would it be alright with you if I took you to our room?” he asks. “I don’t want to leave you alone right now… my instincts wouldn’t allow that.”

“Ins’incs?” Keith slurs. His mind is syrupy with sleep now, and all he can do before he dozes off is make a small noise that could be read as agreement.

After that there’s movement, but he’s still held against a strong, warm chest, so he doesn’t complain. He’s more asleep than awake anyway. A door opens and closes behind them, and Keith wakes a little more when the arms leave him and he’s placed on a bed. He blinks. The Galra are sleeping in one huge cuddle pile, a tangle of limbs that, to Keith right now, looks just comfortable. But sleeping here is bad for some reason. He doesn’t want them to think… what again?

Another small sound leaves his mouth, this one part confused, part protesting, and, scarily, part longing.

Kolivan, he wasn’t here earlier but he is now, opens an eye and holds out an arm. “They filled me in, youngling. Now come here, it’s alright.”

Later, when he wakes for real, Keith will think of this as a surreal episode, something that’s rather a dream than reality. A nice dream, maybe, but a dream nonetheless. It’ll be hard to ignore it, since he’ll wake in the middle of the Galra’s cuddle pile, but he’ll do his very best.

Right now, though, this is warm, and it feels safe, and he does as he’s told without a second thought. Their warmness sorrounds him, and there’s an arm around him -or is it two? He can’t tell- and when they all start purring quietly, he’s lulled back to sleep within seconds. Right now, for now, everything is alright.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything is not alright when Keith wakes in the morning. He’s right in the middle of a cuddle pile, arms and legs interwined with his, and he just. No. He doesn’t do this shit. He fully ignores what happened, how he feels more rested than he has in a while, frees himself and leaves, before the other Galra can wake. At least he thinks they’re still asleep, nobody tried to grab him or even looked at him and they’re still breathing evenly.

He goes to his room but staying here doesn’t feel right, not now, when a part of him -the Galra part- tells him he should’ve stayed with the pack. Is he really calling them a pack now? Geez, this is messed up. Then again, he’s always been messed up, so nothing new here. This is all too much. He needs to do something, to move. So he goes to the training room and fights a few rounds against the druid. Once he’s at that point where he definitely needs a shower he stops, breathing more heavily but feeling better overall.

After the shower he feels almost like himself again, and it’s time for breakfast. Everyone is there already, but luckily for him the Galra don’t treat him any different in front of the rest of the team. And if Thace sits right next to him this morning, giving Keith a look when he thinks the paladin isn’t eating enough, nobody notices and Keith can ignore it easily enough.

He spends the day with the other paladins, something he hasn’t done in a while, he notices now. There’s only one or two mock comments from Lance about “Wow, Keith, you’re leaving your family for us?” but they don’t carry any malicious intent. Keith still argues with him, because the Galra are _anything_ but his family and he’s only doing what he’s doing so the alliance is a success and working alongside the Galra goes more smoothly. Right? Right.

Keith goes to sleep in his own bed that night, well, where else. He’s not going to make that cuddle-pile-thing (that never happened anyway) a recurrence. He ignores the part of him that _wants_ those cuddles -the other Galra must’ve wakened a monster- and actually sleeps through the night as he would any other day. He’s mostly relieved when he wakes in his own bed the next morning, but he can’t help feeling a little bit disappointed, too.   

He ignores that part. He’s very good at ignoring things, he thinks, especially lately. He avoids the other Galra again, just like yesterday, and catches Pidge shooting him a worried look one time because it must look weird to her and the others, how from one day to the other he’s almost ignoring the Galra when before he spent so much time with them.

It comes the moment when she pulls him aside to ask if everything is alright, if something happened or he needs help. Keith reassures her, telling her that he just wanted some time with the team and that everything’s fine. It isn’t, and Keith knows that Pidge doesn’t believe him, but she just nods and leaves it be, because Pidge is just that awesome and she gets that he doesn’t want to talk about it. They join the others on the couch instead, both snatching one of the space-eclairs Hunk made earlier.

It works for another two nights. In the middle of the third Keith wakes, his legs once again giving out on him; he doesn’t fall, though, strong arms holding him and guiding him down slowly.

“Antok?” the young paladin asks tiredly, not opening his eyes. A quiet, rumbling sound and a gentle hand in his hair are his answer. Not that he would’ve needed one; the strong, warm chest can only belong to one Galra. He’s the only one to make Keith feel _small_ , too. The others are big, but only Antok is so much bigger than Keith that he actually fits in his lap without it feeling terribly awkward. This time they don’t talk, just sit there for a while. Keith doesn’t know how long; he dozes lightly and then there’s the feeling of being carried, a door opening and closing and then all encompassing warmth.

As soon as he wakes the next morning, he flees again. Just like the time before, he ends up in the training room on his own until breakfast. His hair is still damp from his shower when he sits down at the table and Ulaz raises an eyebrow at him but says nothing; neither do the other Galra. Only Kolivan gives him a look that makes Keith want to squirm or look away. Before he does, though, Kolivan turns to Antok, speaking to his second-in-command quietly as they do often.

After that it happens every few nights. The Galra never bring it up around the others, but Keith suspects that they aren’t happy with him. They still welcome him into their cuddle-pile every time, but the rest of the time… it just feels as if they are disappointed. The Galra part of Keith understands and even feels slightly ashamed whenever he leaves before they wake, but it’s not exactly like he can stay. He’s not a child. And he really doesn’t want them meddling with his life or interfering with his duties as a paladin.

His tactic works at first, but after a few weeks it finally fails. He wakes up in the mess of arms, legs and bodies, his face close to Thace’s chest and an arm around him that might be Kolivan’s. He weasels out of the pile as always and is about to stand when a hand around his wrist holds him back. Keith tenses; the hand belongs to an arm which belongs to Kolivan, who is looking at him with a stern expression. This time, Keith averts his gaze. After a moment, Kolivan sighs.

“Look at me, youngling.” Keith does. “We’re not angry at you. But this is not going to continue like this.” Oh. So he’s not welcome here anymore? That doesn’t bother him. He’s a loner anyway. Always has been.

A growl. “No. That is not what I meant.” There’s another moment of silcence. Then, “Come along.” Keith doesn’t really have another choice than to follow him. He’s not surprised to end up at the training room; where else could they have gone?

Once they start fighting it doesn’t take long for Kolivan to gain the upper hand. He’s probably just playing with Keith, like a cat plays with a mouse. The red paladin doesn’t like that at all.

“What you are doing isn’t healthy. Not for you, not for any of us,” Kolivan says suddenly. He’s barely out of breath.

“You know,” Keith answers through gritted teeth, “I’m not a part of your… of your _pack_. You don’t get to tell me what to do.”

“A pack?” Kolivan asks. “What is that?”

“It’s… it’s what you guys probably are! It’s something a lot of animals on earth do. It’s like… like a family or something.”

A hum. “I see…” Keith thinks the Galra actually likes that concept. “Well, no matter if you are a part of this… pack… or not, your behaviour does not only hurt yourself.”

“My behaviour… is none… of your… concern!” Keith decides to attack more ruthlessly, throwing all caution into the wind. Which, admittedly, is not his best idea, and he should have seen this coming, but only a moment later he’s on his back, pinned to the floor by Kolivan. Kolivan is still calm while Keith is gasping for breath, partly from the fight, partly from anger.

“You are going to listen to me now, youngling. Your behaviour is my concern. It affects the whole… pack. You grew up too far away to know, without anybody who could have taught you, so I am going to teach you now. You are waiting until you are so distressed that you call out in your sleep. That causes distress to every knowing Galra around, which happens to be us. By your behaviour, you are hurting every one of us. All I am asking is that you come to us before you reach that point. We understand your duties as a paladin. We do not treat you any different in front of the other paladins. But you _are_ Galra, and you can not simply ignore your instincts until you can not control them any longer and hurt yourself in the process. You are one stubborn child, but you need to understand this. It is a part of you you can not ignore.” And that’s what does it, because Kolivan is just wrong.

“I’m not, okay?!” Keith yells. “I’m not Galra, I’m not human, I’m not _anything_!” And it hurts, but it’s the truth- and the problem. Keith will never belong anywhere, except, maybe, in the red lion. She chose him, after all. It’s something he’s incredibly grateful for, because it means that at least he belongs here, even if he doesn’t really belong to any humans or Galra. Speaking of Red, she’s roaring angrily in the back of his head -is she angry at Kolivan? Or Keith? Confusingly it feels like she’s siding with Kolivan for some reason.

Kolivan closes his eyes for a second and Keith thinks he might be praying for patience, if Galra pray at all. Do they have gods or something similar to that? He doesn’t know. “You are not nothing, boy, you wouldn’t be here if you were. You are _both_. You belong with us as much as them.” Funny, how Lance said something similar not so long ago. He can feel Red purr through their connection, as if she was agreeing with Kolivan. The Galra continues, “You _are_ Galra. You _are_ a child from our point of view. You might have never had the option of having a… pack before, but you have it now; we can provide for you and take care of your needs and we will, but it is your decision if you want to hurt yourself and us in the process or not. You need to understand that, youngling.”

With that he lets go of him, everything said and done, but Keith stays where he is a little longer. Kolivan leaves, Keith can hear his steps and the door, but he stays where the older Galra pinned him to the floor. What Kolivan said makes sense and no sense at the same time, and it confuses Keith to no end. He goes to take a shower before breakfast and is quiet for the rest of the day, staying on his own like he did most of the time in the beginning.

All of the paladins seem just a little bit put off and worried about that, because Keith hasn’t been doing that in a while, but they leave him alone for now. He sits in his room, playing with his knife that now can change its form easily if he wants it to, and thinks. This whole mess probably started with his knife, the first time he ever met the Blade of Marmorra. His Galra half, those instincts, must’ve awakened with his blade… then again, he’s been sleepwalking and “calling out” as the other Galra call it, long before that… but maybe the whole thing with his knife made it worse. It happens more often, now, too.  

Would it really be that bad to give in to the Galra part every now and then? That part of him does want to be close to the pack; _it could be your pack_ , his treacherous mind whispers. _It could be your home._ And Kolivan pretty much promised him that the rest of team Voltron doesn’t even have to know. They’re not going to start demanding he eat more in front of them like he was afraid would happen. They’re not going to treat him like the child they see him as. Lance would never let him live that down.

And when the time comes, when it gets too late to delay the decision any longer, he decides to at least give it a try. He makes his way to the Galras’ room and knocks at the door. “Come in,” someone says, and Keith does before he can chicken out of this.

“Hey guys,” he says, not really looking at them. “Can I, uh, stay here?”

“Of course you can!” Thace comes to give him a bear hug Keith lets him get away with; this time. “We missed you, kid.”

When he looks up they’re all smiling at him, and wow, Keith doesn’t think he’s ever seen Kolivan actually smile before. The older Galra gives him an approving nod.

Sleeping in the cuddle-pile feels right, and fuck it, the others don’t have to know about this anyway. There’s a lot of nuzzling -Keith thinks they might be scenting him, if Galra do something like that- and purring, and a lot of warmth, and it’s good like that. This time he won’t just steal away in the morning, Keith thinks, as he falls asleep. If he’s purring, too, he doesn’t care.


	3. Chapter 3

Apparently, Galra call it a “unit” or “family unit”. Well, not any longer. All members of the Blade of Marmora have taken a liking to “pack”. Keith isn’t sure if they just like the word itself, if they like that it comes from earth, or that it comes from earth _where Keith comes from_ , but they’ve started using it instead of the Galra term. It’s a bit funny because they still don’t really seem to get what it really means, or rather, that it’s usually only used with some kinds of animals.

No matter what they call themselves, though, they’ve kept their promise to Keith. He’s been sleeping with them more often, something his Galra half is very pleased with, and there hasn’t been another sleepwalking incident since. Apart from that the other Galra are very careful, especially around Allura, Coran and the other paladins. If it’s just Keith and them, there’s a nuzzle here, a hug there, but that’s alright with him. If it’s not just them they keep their touches at an unsuspicous level; they’re subtle about it, and they’re good at being subtle.

They still manage to stay close, almost as if by accident, one of them always in sight, at least for a few days. It gets better after that, even though he has a feeling they’re still looking after him somehow. Something tells Keith if he actually needed them, they’d be right there. And they don’t even need an excuse for riding Red with him, well, one of them, not all at once. Red is pleased.

Kolivan has started sparring with him more often. He even tells him that he thinks Keith has a lot of potential. For the paladin, it comes out of nowhere and for a moment he can only stare at Kolivan which almost gets him hit by the staff the Galra is using. He barely manages to dodge, but loses his footing and lands on the floor anyway. “Weren’t you the one telling me I was medicore at best?” he asks.

A nod. “That was when I thought you were old enough to be an actual fighter. For your age you are very skilled.” Keith isn’t sure if he should take that as a compliment or an insult. He decides to ignore it and just gets back to his feet instead.

Thace is gradually getting more tactile, until Keith has to sit down with him and have a Talk about how ruffling his hair every chance he gets is not something he can tolerate. He’s a tiny little bit proud of how patient he manages to be, much more like Shiro than Keith’s actual self.

Ulaz fusses more about Keith’s health than before. When it’s just them, he tells him not to skip meals like he sometimes does, to eat more in general, to not go overboard with training. He’s even worse of a mother hen than Shiro is sometimes in his attempts to look after the team.

Antok is his quiet, stoic self as always. But sometimes, not too often, he’ll still pull Keith into his lap and pet his hair. Surprisingly enough, he doesn’t mind that much, at least when he can be sure that nobody outside of the pack will see it. But Keith is Keith, and he has to protest or at least try to. “That again?” he grumbles one time. “Why do you always have to do that?”

The huge Galra stays silent for another minute. “I had a wife,” he says, then. “Two wonderful kits, not much older than you, youngling. Zarkon took them all.”  Hearing that is a shock to Keith, and he doesn’t complain half as much after that; he knows how it is to grow up without a family, but he doesn’t want to imagine what it must be like to have one and lose all of them. Not now that this pack has somewhat adopted him.

All in all, Keith likes them taking care of him like that. Like a family would. Or at least, like what he always thought a family would. Maybe it’s a little late for his human standards, but for Galra it’s not; for them he’s still a kid after all. He often sits with them in the evenings now, and it’s nice, because they all do their own thing, mostly, and oftentimes they don’t even talk much, but they still stay close to each other.

There’s a lot of little touches, almost unconscious, that are answered by quiet rumbles and other small noises, and whenever Keith relaxes enough he makes some of those quiet noises himself, something he’s embarrassed about because from him those mostly come out as whines, sometimes questioning sounds. But whenever that happens there’s a nose rubbing along his cheek, a hand in his hair or on his shoulder or back, little touches that settle something in him he didn’t even know existed, and he kinda gets used to it. He even likes it, to be honest, though he only ever admits that to himself.

Of course it has to come the day where it all goes to shit. They’re on a mission on a planet called Eta Dorsi 5. It’s pretty cold there, the whole planet is covered in ice and its inhabitants are tough aliens with thick, grey skin; they’ve been living in peace until Zarkon decided he wanted the rare kind of metal the planet’s core is made of. So Voltron has to intervene and safe the day and in the process Keith somehow manages to catch a cold.

He starts sneezing around the time they’re on their way back, not thinking much of it, but Ulaz, who’s riding Red with him today, does. He fusses over Keith, even worse than usually, and this is weird because they’re technically not on their own. The other Paladins, or even Coran or Allura, could call them any time. He doesn’t even really answer Keith’s questions about what’s going on, and the young paladin starts to worry a little -this is too close to that first time when instincts took over.

Keith has never believed in god, or any deity really. He hasn’t prayed before, either -what good would it do to talk to… _something_ that’s most likely not even there? He does now. He prays to whatever might be out there that Ulaz will stop by the time they get back to the castle, and that the others won’t act as strange as him. Ulaz doesn’t stop. Instead it gets worse. Once they’ve landed safely the Galra rushes outside and exchanges a quick series of rumbles and growls with the other members of the Blade of Marmora. Lance shoots Keith a confused look, silently asking what’s going on since Keith is considered to be their Galra expert, but the paladin doesn’t understand it himself and can just shrug helplessly.

Then he sneezes again and everything goes downhill from there. The other Galras’ heads whip around, they all stare at him, and the next thing he knows is that Antok has picked him up, just like that, _in front of the team_ , and is carrying him to their room. It doesn’t take long and Keith is wrapped into _a lot_ of blankets, his protests unheard and all of the Galra huddled close to him and fussing over him. They don’t talk, just rumble and growl, and Keith is pretty sure that this, in fact, is their instincts having taken over again. In front of the team. This is a nightmare.

They don’t listen to anything he says, again, but this time Keith has a better understanding of them. He still doesn’t know what even caused this but he has an idea how he might be able to stop it. If they don’t listen to human Keith, maybe they’ll listen to Galra Keith. He produces the most pitiful whine he’s capable of, and to his surprise it works, snaps them out of it. He’s able to free himself and glares at them.

“Just what was that?!” he asks.

Ulaz tries to hush him and fails. “The red fever,” he explains instead. “You’re showing first symptoms of it. It’s a very dangerous disease, and I don’t know where you got it from, but-“

“What are you even talking about?!” Keith isn’t even trying not to raise his voice. He wants to shout, to yell, because they just did the one thing they could never, ever do and destroyed everything. So he shouts out his frustration. “Just because my nose is running?! That’s a cold! A cold! That happens to humans when they get too cold! And it’s harmless, okay, it’s nothing!”

He looks at Kolivan, and suddenly he just feels tired. This must be betrayal. “You promised,” he says, quietly now. “You promised they’d never know.” With that he turns around and leaves. Maybe he can save this somehow, tell the others… something. He makes his way to the common room where they hang out after missions usually, but stops dead in his tracks when he hears Lance laugh.

“He _carried_ him! Like a child! Baby Keith!”

“Lance.” Shiro’s voice. “Stop that. I’m sure there’s an explanation.”

Lance replies something, but Keith doesn’t hear it anymore. He can’t go in there now; he can’t stay here. He feels like there’s a band of steel around his chest that’s tightening with every second. He flees. Red is roaring angrily through their connection, most likely at the betrayal he feels, and his feet carry him to her without him even realizing it until he’s back in his seat and on his way out of the castle. He knows he can’t just leave and never come back, he doesn’t _want_ to, but he needs to get out of here at least for a while.

This is a mess. Just when he thought everything was fine. Somewhere deep in space, he shouts out his frustration, and Red shouts with him, roaring into the endlessness of the universe. He shouts until he’s tired and his voice is hoarse, and after that they just float, Keith trusting Red to lead them. And he’s still _sneezing_ and his nose is _running_ and he’s starting to get a headache to boot, and this is all wrong. He falls asleep at some point and when he wakes he’s hungry enough for his stomach to rumble, which Red seems to take as a sign to go back home. He can’t run away forever.

He manages to grab some leftover food from the fridge without running into anybody; he doesn’t want to think about if they’re avoiding him. Instead of going to sit in the common room, he makes his way to what he’s been calling the star deck for himself. It’s really just a small space with a window you can look at the stars from, and Keith thinks it might be rather for maintenance than to actually sit down at. There’s a lot of pipes and it looks uncomfortable but nobody ever comes up here which is exactly what Keith wants. He sits against the wall with his plate, looking out of the window and wishes he could just delete today, go back to Eta Dorsi 5 and just be more careful in the cold.

He puts down his plate once it’s empty, hugs his knees, rests his chin on them and looks out at the stars. His Galra half would much rather be with Kolivan and the others now, where it’s warm and comfortable instead of cold, but thinking of them hurts. He tries to think of nothing and must have dozed off in the process, because when he opens his eyes again Shiro is sitting next to him.

“What do you want?” he asks, grimacing a little at hearing his own voice. It’s still hoarse.

“I talked to Kolivan,” the black paladin says. “And he explained it to me, or at least he tried to. I think I get it.” He pauses. “Keith, I think they really do care about you. It’s like a family, isn’t it?”

Keith shrugs. The truth is that, yes, it is, but how can he go back to them now?

Shiro smiles. “I’m glad you found one; really.” He chuckles. “Who would’ve thought that it’d be Galra though, huh?”

Keith stays silent. Yeah, who would’ve thought. And who would’ve thought that a family can feel _so good_? And that they could hurt you _so bad_? He shouldn’t have gotten close to them in the first place. He’s a loner. Always has been. Only that he changed, first with the team and then the Galra, and he’s not anymore, not really. And now he’s miserable.

“This sucks,” he mutters and Shiro smiles again.

“Yeah, family can be embarrassing… My mother still kissed me goodbye on my first day of high school, right in front of everybody. I thought I would die. But I couldn’t stay angry at her for long…”

They fall silent for another few moments. “Is it always like this?” Keith asks, then.

A nod. “More often than not, yeah. But you’ll forgive them, because that’s what families do. They make mistakes, get angry, and then they forgive each other.” He hums. “You know nobody is going to be rude about this, don’t you?”

Keith just gives him a _look_. He doesn’t even have to say Lance’s name for Shiro to understand. But the older paladin shakes his head.

“He’s always making fun of you. Or trying to at least. He’s missing his family, you know? Just like every one of us. I think he might be jealous because you found yours here and he didn’t even get to say goodbye to his.”

Which is a completely new way to see this, and an information that actually makes Keith a little sad for Lance and the others. Shiro leaves him alone after this, and Keith is grateful for that, because he has a lot of thinking to do.

When he comes back down there’s a little moment where time seems to stop, but then everybody goes back to what they were doing and it’s… okay, somehow. And then, a little later, Pidge comes over and starts basically interrogating him, because she’s curious and it’s for science, of course. Hunk sits down with them just a little later with food, and mostly just listens, as curious as Pidge but content to let her ask the questions.

Shiro is probably somewhere talking strategy with Allura and Coran, but Lance joins them in the common room at some point, and time itself seems to hold its breath before Lance just sits down without so much as a snide remark. Once Pidge is done interrogating him, for now at least, the blue paladin speaks.

“Y’know,” he says. “I’m missing my family.” Which is the last thing Keith has expected; Hunk and Pidge look down, probably thinking of their own families.

“I’m sorry, guys… Let’s just finish Zarkon off soon, then we can go back, yeah? And we’ll find Matt and the Commander, too.” It’s the best motivational speech he’s capable of, he’s not Shiro, but it seems to help. After a moment he adds, “And if you make fun of them or me, I’m going to pay you back tenfold the next time we spar, got it?”     

Though he thinks that won’t happen. Lance likes to provoke him and to fight with him, but he hasn’t really tried to hurt him with his comments in a long time. It’s more like bantering, a game they’re both playing, and they give as good as they get, but only ever for the fun of it.

Nobody says anything for a while after that, all of them deep in their own thoughts. And he didn’t think it’d be that clear to him, but it is now, at least after talking to Shiro. He was angry at the other Galra, yes, but he’s less angry already. Actually, he’d really like to spend some time with them now. So he stretches and leaves, Red purring encouragingly in the back of his head as he makes his way to their room. He knocks and instead of someone just telling him to come in the door opens and he has an armful of Thace, just like that. In the next second the Galra freezes and lets go of him, looking guilty, as if he’s not sure Keith is even allowing the contact. The young paladin sighs.

“Idiot,” he says, and wraps his arms around the Galra who purrs in relief. Keith looks over Thace's shoulder at the others. “You’re all idiots, you know that?” he asks. He doesn’t get a verbal answer, but Ulaz makes a questioning sound, which Keith answers with a quiet rumble of his own. The doctor relaxes, understanding that he’s forgiven, and comes over to join the hug. Antok is next, waiting a moment before he wraps his arms around all of them, somehow managing to nuzzle Keith, and Kolivan smiles -the second time, Keith must be blessed or something- and tells them to come over to the nest and close the door. There’s a lot of shuffling after that, because nobody really wants to let go, and then there’s a lot of cuddling, nuzzling, and purring and _warmth_ , and Keith thinks that this must be what it feels like to come home. His headache is gone and his nose will stop running in a day or two, and some time he’ll sit down with all of them and have one of those Talks, about human injuries and illnesses, but not right now. Right now he’s busy purring and feeling warm and comfortable.

Everything is alright after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments and feedback are always appreciated~


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